Blossoms in the Winter

Once upon a time there lived a poor melamed, a Hebrew teacher, in a small village in Poland. He had his daily troubles with the hardheaded farmer boys who were his students. For they would rather roam the countryside than learn the alef-bet, the difference between the daled and the resh, or the hei and the chet.

All through the summer, the melamed had plenty of time for himself. The Jewish farmers needed their children to help in the fields, and his pupils would anyway prefer mowing corn or loading hay to learning how to read and write Hebrew. That was summer. But now it was winter, and a heavy layer of snow covered every inch of the ground upon which the poor melamed walked. Yet this was his day off. For it was Tu B’Shevat, the fifteenth day of the month of Shevat.

You know that this day is the New Year of the tree world. Our melamed, too, thought of the meaning of Tu B’Shevat as he left the village and walked towards a nearby forest. He knew very little about trees and nature in general, for he had hardly ever left his study and his beloved books. Thus, you will not be surprised to hear that the learned man was wondering in what manner the trees celebrated their Rosh Hashanah. Were they budding and putting on their coat of green, or was there any other form of celebrating the New Year of which he did not know?

When he reached the forest, he was deeply disappointed to find the trees and bushes covered with thick coats of crystal-white snow. “Who knows,” he pondered, “perhaps they were tallitot (prayer shawls) and kittels (white robes), like pious Jews on their High Holidays!” Just then a strong wind blew through the treetops, and the sounds of the swaying branches sounded like the whispering of devout prayers. Our melamed stood quietly amidst the noise of the windy forest, as fervent melodies passed through his head.

Again he asked himself: What kind of New Year do the trees celebrate? Don’t they look as if they were dead?

Suddenly, the entire scene became transformed. The melamed was able to see through the glittering, sparkling snow, as if the bark was made of pure, transparent glass. From the marrow of each little branch, tender sprouts pushed closer to the surface; yet they were careful not to go too far. It was still too cold for them to face the harshness of the world beyond the casing of the branches. But within, life was stirring, and the beginnings of new, strong branches were marking time until the Master of the trees and bushes would bring them.

The melamed eagerly drank in the full beauty of this tender spectacle. His strained eyes had never looked beyond the bark of the oaks and birches and poplars that lined the streets of his village. He had never dreamt of life and sprouting twigs deep within the trunks of those impersonal trees. Now he saw and understood that they, too, were individuals, each one in his own right and own way of life, each one with his proper soul and living spirit. The New Year of Trees was no longer meaningless to him.

A sudden gust of wind sprayed millions of fine snow-stars into the crisp air, and the melamed’s eyes were closed as by a curtain. When he was able to see again, the wondrous scene had disappeared. Only the slender fir trees swayed back and forth, and their naked branches seemed to shake with mockery.

Yet the man who returned home to the village was no longer the same poor melamed. Poor were only the clothes that covered his thin body. Poor was only the little hut that served him as a shelter. Yet deep within him budded spirited life, the blossoms of a hopeful future.

What did it matter that his students were hardheaded farm boys? He realized that deep within them lay seeds of knowledge and much learning. He knew that he had only to supply the warmth of loving understanding to lure the sprouts out of their hiding, so that they would blossom and show the fruits of their harvest. They, too, would yet become good Torah students some day!

Kehot Publication Society and Merkos Publications, the publishing divisions of the Lubavitch movement, have brought Torah education to nearly every Jewish community in the world, and are the world's largest publisher of Jewish literature.

Blossoms in the Winter
But fir trees do not become naked in the winter. The author has shown that he, like the Hebrew teacher in the story, does not know much about trees.
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ChiggyEnugu, NigeriaFebruary 8, 2012

Zoe
This story reminds me of the very essence of God in every one of us. Thanks for reminding me that with that God kind of life alive in us, every other thing falls in place. Happy celebrations...
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ruth housmanmarshfield hills, maFebruary 8, 2012

the comment directly above
I find it interesting that someone could read a beautiful story, about nature and its teachings, and feel it's not realistic. Write a different story. Please, NO!

There are all kinds of poverty, and I think the deepest of messages has to do with poverty of thinking, of not seeing the beauty of our surrounds. It seems a very Jewish thing, or should be, to want to care for our environment, for our children to learn this sanctity, and to teach this wherever we go.

I give to an organization in Israel called ASPNI, the Society for the Preservation of Nature in Israel, and I give because they do something beautiful, in preserving the natural preserves for birds, for other wildlife, and for us, that we might realize this beauty and feel with great sensitivity the qualities of earth, sun, sky and animals that are so much part of the Gift, of the land. Our gift.

We wear colorful depictions of animals. Why do this unless we learn love, unless we love, and teach how to do this?
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Mr. Daniel MasriFebruary 8, 2012

Blossoming Eretz ha Kodesh
Today I look out my window, soon to travel on my daily path to Jerusalem The cold wind blows. We certainly are experiencing the coldest day of our year, And behold blossoms everywhere strongly attached as to remind us of our permanence in our homeland, Israel is blossoming.
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Richard M MarcusBoca Raton, , FloridaFebruary 7, 2012

Very nice, but.....
yet another story with all the same elements as the other: the poor person who is deep in the spirit, and how "blessed" he is.

May we please have something more realistic? One does not have to .iive in poverty to be a good Jew. We who work hard, educate ourselves to the extent possible, educate our children, marry a Jewish girl and keep a home that exemplifies the Jewish way of life, want to pass it on to our children, grandchildren, and the outside world. Let everyone know: we love our G-d, we believe in Him, and we grateful for the privilege of our Jewish heritage...which goes back thousands of years.
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ruth housmanmarshfield hills, maFebruary 7, 2012

white blossoms
This is beautiful. This is about a true awakening. Under the snow covered branches , which for me is like blossoms in April, there are these little green shoots, what will become and is becoming, the flower and the fruit. Knowledge isn't always from books, and it often comes by immersion, in taking the time to really see, to really think, to really wonder. It's everywhere, for us all, something new, each day, and we will never truly exhaust that pleasure, nor the pleasure of sharing what we find. How I wish there were more articles on religious sites about sight, and insight, in entering the forests of our world. Perhaps then there would be more about our need to protect and honor what is sacred, for our children.
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Howie Brooklyn, NFebruary 7, 2012

Beautifull Story
I too want to ride my motorcycle, run around with my friends and or Children, Yet I want to learn Hebrew but can't seem to sit down and do it. This story gives me hope, that one day i will be able to read Torah. But not today. It will come in time, I pray I have enough.
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DavidaBaltimore, MarylandFebruary 7, 2012

Beautiful story!
My daughter and I really enjoyed this story - poetic and deep, full of hope. Thank you.
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Judy FreedmanHashmonaim, IsraelJanuary 16, 2011

Thank you
Thank you again for providing me with a text suitable for my English class. And a basis for discussion!
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Ivy SreibergWorcester, MAJanuary 7, 2011

The New Year for the Trees
Thank you for posting this touching Tu B'Shevat story!
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